Social Media, Anyone? Guardian Media Culture Professionals Network Shares Tips

Karen's favourite culture website offers useful tips on one of her particular interests - social media for professional networking.  Take a look ...

Social Network Culture

Conference: Understanding Scotland Musically

Updated pages for this forthcoming AHRC-funded conference can be found here:-

Understanding Scotland Musically

AHRC sponsored two-day conference, 20 - 21st October 2014, Research Beehive, Newcastle University.

Understanding Scotland Musically

With a keynote address from

Dr Gary West

'Understanding Scotland Musically: Do we? Can we?’

New Palgrave E-Books for the Whittaker Library

Heroin-addicted musicians in New York?  Medieval Music?  Wagnerian influence on dramatists?

We've been adding an ambitious range of E-Books to the Whittaker Library stock.  All published by Palgrave, this time, you can take a look in our catalogue to see what's there.  So far, they're mainly music books - there will soon be drama titles as well.

Look in our catalogue here!

You can Search the National Archives

Anyone with an interest in history (music, drama or anything else at all!) will be curious to find out what's in the National Archives, and the Archives have a new search interface to help you find out.

We tried searching for Suffrage, Stage Lighting, and Scottish Songs - not all at once!

Results show (a) what's in the National Archives, and (b) what's in other archives.  Very impressive, and very promising.  Do take a look:-

• Search the Discovery Catalogue
• National Archives Homepage

Composer Agostino Di Scipio featured in Contemporary Music Review

Agostino Di Scipio, Composer

The latest issue of Contemporary Music Review is devoted to the music of Agostino Di Scipio, described editorially as,

" ... a well-known composer and theoretician, especially in the circles of computer music and live electronics."

Agostino Di Scipio, portrait from website

Here at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, our staff and students can read the journal electronically, but the paper copy is also catalogued amongst the music book stock. 

• Electronic link for the RCS community
• Catalogue link to paper copy
• Agostino Di Scipio's website

Creative Artists - Could You Write a Column for Ideas Tap?

Arts Columnist Required

Spotted on social media, this interesting writing/journalistic opportunity for some creative young person ...

We're looking for a new arts columnist, who'll get paid £100 p/w to write a weekly 500-word column for IdeasMag: http://bit.ly/1jm3LH6

(Whittaker sighs - if only there had been social media when 'he' was younger ...) 

 

Tropical Forest? Whittaker Library? Guess the link!

You know those clever little leaf-cutter ants, bearing big bits of leaf as they process through a tropical forest?

They come to mind today, as the Whittaker Library welcomes a steady procession of staff and students diligently returning books at the end of session. All library materials must be returned today.

Once accounts are clear, staff and continuing students can borrow again for the summer. 

There are special arrangements for graduating students.  If you are leaving at the end of Trimester 2, please do remember to return all your Library materials, and have a great Summer!

The Library is open normal term-time hours until Saturday 14th June. The following week, we commence Trimester 3 hours, when the Library will be open from 9-5pm Monday – Friday.

In addition, we will be extending opening hours until 8pm on Tuesday evenings from 8nd July – 2nd September. 

The Library staff are here throughout the summer to support you in your studies, so please do make use of the facilities.

Reddit - Introduced by the Guardian Culture Professionals Network

Do you use Reddit?  It's a social media website that the author of this article describes as highly influential, but perhaps not as well-known as it should be.

So we need to know about it!  Read the Guardian article here.

Find Reddit itself, here.

(No prizes for guessing where Karen's curiosity will be heading this weekend, then!)

Euphonium and Tuba in Atlanta

Whittaker's in-tray contained an invitation today:-

2014 International Euphonium Tuba Festival

at Emory University in Atlanta, USA

 

22-28 June 2014

The invitation comes rather late for our readers to book attendance, but we wish the Festival a happy and fulfilling week all the same.

More information can be found at Euphonium.com - if you play Euphonium or Tuba, maybe you'd like to save this link to your favourites.

Researcher Support

Research Support - Supporting Researchers

One of the ways we support our research staff and students is by sharing relevant weblinks with them.  Indeed, Karen has a Diigo list for this very purpose. You can see Karen's Research Support List here.

Also, if you scroll down the left side of the screen, you'll see her many other lists - there could be useful material there, too.  Feel free to browse.

NB  Why not start your own Diigo account today?  Save favourites "to the cloud", on any device you own.  It's invaluable!

https://www.diigo.com/index

The German Fach System - Different Voice Types

Has your singing teacher referred to the Fach System?  You didn't like to admit it was unfamiliar?  It's the German way of categorising voice types.

Panic not!  We have a book about it in the Whittaker Library:-

What the Fach?! The definitive guide for opera singers auditioning and working in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, by Philip Shepard.  Catalogue details here.

You can also read a page about it on our IPA Source database - the database which gives the IPA pronunciations of opera and song texts.  The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland has a subscription, which our staff and students can access online, on campus.  Check it out here:- 

http://www.ipasource.com/

Here's the page about the German Fach system.  (You'll need to be on site to access it.)

Scottish Country Dancing - if Jean Milligan only knew!

RSCDS

The Royal Scottish Country Dance Society was founded in 1923 by Jean Milligan, the first dance teacher at Jordanhill teacher training college, and Mrs Stewart of Fasnacloich.  (As it happens, 'Whittaker's' mother-in-law Peggy McAulay (nee Fife) was Jean Milligan's first pianist at Jordanhill during her time as a student there ...)

If Jean Milligan only knew!  Her society has grown and prospered, and spawned branches worldwide.  The Whittaker Library has dozens and dozens of Scottish country dance tune-books, from St Andrews, Edinburgh, Carlisle and the Borders, Leeds, Birmingham, even New Zealand!  We haven't got every book of dance tunes ever published, but it felt like it today when we were updating our catalogue!  Old ones and newer collections - they're all represented.


Take a look here.

What makes a Scottish country dance tune? Some are from old fiddle tune-books.  Some have been written in a similar style by modern Scots or other Scottish country dance musicians, worldwide.  Does it have to be Scottish to be a Scottish country dance tune, then?  We would say, not necessarily!

Here's another mind-boggling thought: just imagine if you totted up the hours that our books have spent being played at ceilidhs worldwide, since they were published.  And then, how many dancers have been accompanied by pianists playing from those books ... not to mention, how many cups of teas were served between dances ...!

What was dance music like, in 1781 London? Thompson Revisited ...

Book Review: Thompson Revisited (18th century dance tunes)

Karen's eyes lit up when she found this - she's researched the rare Caledonian Muse, a dance book by the Thompson publishing dynasty, and now, here's a book compiling dance music published between 1781-1788.  What could be more intriguing or delightful?  We bought it for the Whittaker Library and it's hitting the shelves any day now.  (Details here.)

The book contains the tunes as they were published 'for violin, German flute and hautboy [oboe]'. The tunes are re-set, not in facsimile, which makes them larger and clearer for performance, and there are ample dance instructions.  There's no accompaniment - just tunes - but a basic understanding of harmony would enable a musician to improvise a bass.  The whole book is edited and rewritten by Boyd Rothenberger, who is on the board of governers of CONTRALAB, an international organization of contra dance leaders.  He teaches 'dances from the American Revolutionary War and War of 1812 periods of history to military re-inactors across the country ...', and found these Thompson books when he was visiting Exeter in Devon.  

There's a useful alphabetical index, and an invaluable glossary of dance terms.

From a researcher's point of view, the transcription of the original title page is not entirely accurate - unless there was perhaps a choice of title pages for different years.  An introduction with bibliographical and contextual information would have been useful.  However, as far as dancers are concerned, here's a great collection of dance tunes as performed at 'Court, Bath, Tunbridge [and] all Public Assemblies' at the end of the eighteenth century.  It's available from Amazon.

RIP Maya Angelou, poet (1928-2014)

Visit  Maya Angelou's website:- http://mayaangelou.com/

Whittaker decided to use our library subscription to Web of Knowledge, to find information about the late Maya Angelou, one of the great poets of our time. There's a wealth of info there.  If you're part of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, search Web of Knowledge here.

Whittaker also came across this tribute on James Clear's website:- 

Masters of Habit: The Wisdom and Writing of Maya Angelou

Period Dancing: Edinburgh Quadrilles, Sunday 1 June 2014

Further information - click here.

Edinburgh Baroque Weekend 31 May - 1 June 2014

North London Piano School - International Summer Course 2014

North London Piano School Summer Course

Piano and Violin

16 -23 August 2014

Gala Concerts 23 August 2014

Website: www.learn-music.com/nlps2

London International Music Competition

London International Music Competition

19 - 23 August 2014

Sections for Piano, Voice, Strings, Wind Instruments, Piano Duo, Ensembles 

Age groups: 11 and under; 16 and under; Open.

Gala concert 23 August 2014

Website:- www.LIMC.info.   DEADLINE 31 May for applications.

In Whittaker's Snail-Mail: Contemporary Music in Strasbourg, France

Académie d'été de l'Ensemble Linea

Musique contemporaine / contemporary music

Summer academy of the Ensemble Linea

Strasbourg, France (Cité de la Musique et de la Danse)

25 - 31 August 2014

Whittaker received a leaflet for this summer music course in the post last week.  Online details can be found HERE.

Glasgow School of Art - Devastating Fire

Glasgow School of Art http://www.gsa.ac.uk/

Our hearts go out to the Glasgow School of Art, which suffered a catastrophic fire last Friday. We understand that the archives have been saved, but not the historic old library.  The fire is a tragedy for Glasgow and for the international art community.

Follow the aftermath, the start of the clean-up, and the fundraising on the GSA Twitter account here.

 FUNDRAISING UPDATE

The Big Idea

"Following the fire in the Mackintosh Building, the Governors, Staff and Students of The Glasgow School of Art have been touched by the many generous offers of financial support. This fund is a mechanism by which you can support an unrestricted fund to enable the GSA to respond to this sad event."

Fundraising is via TheBigGive.org.uk